Warhammer Coming to Boca Raton at the End of September

What’s Warhammer, you ask? It’s a tabletop strategy game that originated in the U.K. in the early 1980s, created by Games Workshop. British boys now in their midlife years and younger all know Warhammer, but it has only enjoyed cult status in the U.S.

And on Sept. 29, the fun will be coming to Boca Raton at the Polo Club Shoppes. Until recently, Games Workshop only had two stores—Palm Beach Gardens and Sunrise—within 100 miles of Boca, and the Sunrise store recently closed. This new store in Boca is one of the first opening under the new store branding, Warhammer.

I was first exposed to Warhammer during a sci-fi convention in 1989. People were setting up tables with armies and scenery, preparing for battles that would be decided with dice rolls. I don’t know if it was Warhammer Fantasy or its arguably more popular sci-fi variant, Warhammer 40,000, but I remember being struck by the beauty of the armies and vehicles, the hand-painting of which fans will tell you is an essential part of the hobby.

My interest in the franchise began when it expanded years ago into video games and especially novels, a voluminous amount of which you’ll find on the last sci-fi shelf in any Barnes & Noble. The deep lore of the Warhammer universes is what keeps it interesting.

Once open, the shop will be hosting free painting lessons, competitions, one-on-one tutorials, and more.

So if anyone out there is interested in an all-consuming (and expensive) hobby with a built-in worldwide community attached to it, I suggest you stop by the Warhammer store for their grand opening parties, Sept. 29 and 30 at noon. They will have “all sorts of cool fun swag” and an exclusive miniature available.